42 Life of Count Rumford. 



friends which there made his family circle would have 

 secured his high position and success. 



The Rev. Timothy Walker, the first minister of 

 Concord, New Hampshire, himself a native of Wo- 

 burn, and connected already with the Thompson family, 

 had joined the fortunes of the early settlers in 1730 as 

 their spiritual guide, and continued in their service as 

 such till his death, September 2, 1782, after a minis- 

 try of fifty-two years. He was one of that class of 

 ministers, characteristic of New England from its colo- 

 nization down nearly to our own times, who, while 

 holding a position and authority officially and conven- 

 tionally supreme among the people of a settlement, 

 proved worthy of esteem, and used their influence for 

 unqualified good. Mr. Walker was the most honored 

 citizen of Concord, as well as its beloved minister, and 

 he has been honored in the line of his descendants. 

 He had been thrice sent on missions to England on 



o 



business connected with the disputes about the juris- 

 diction of the town and province, and had there im- 

 pressed the legal counsel which he employed, and the 

 tribunal before which he was heard, in a manner that 

 insured his success. He also used his opportunities 

 abroad for observation and acquisition, so as to enhance 

 his influence at home. His son, Colonel Timothy 

 Walker, a lawyer, was also a man of talent and po- 

 sition. 



But next to the minister, just previous to Thomp- 

 son's visit to Concord, Colonel Benjamin Rolfe held 

 place and power in the village. He was the squire, 

 was rich and public-spirited. He is distinguished as 

 having been the first owner and driver of a curricle and 

 a pair of horses in New Hampshire, always excepting 



